This invention relates to a floor care appliance; more particularly, to such an appliance used as a vacuum cleaner for removal of loose dirt, selectively, from a bare floor or from a carpeted floor; or as a carpet cleaning appliance selectively dispensing a quantity of dry chemical carpet cleaner from a storage chamber, agitating the same into and about the carpet fibers for subsequent removal of the cleaner and soil from the carpet by reversion to operation as a carpeted floor vacuum cleaner.
In the prior art there is found the U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,371 of Satterfield which relates to a carpet scrubber having the capability for operation as a vacuum cleaner. However, this device was designed for commercial use in cleaning carpets where the dry chemical is dispensed upon the carpet, agitated into the carpet for cleaning purposes and removed from the carpet by use as a vacuum cleaner in the last step of a commercial large scale carpet cleaning operation. Further, the commercial nature of this device permitted its design for use by specialists, and operation thereof would be beyond the capabilities of most home users.
Also in the prior art are the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,634,905 of Boyd and 3,273,195 of Jepson et al. These patents are concerned with the unique design for a vacuum cleaner and for a "stick vac", respectively. These patent disclose vacuum cleaners of a particular construction but having no other capability than to remove loose dirt from carpets.
What is required is a floor care appliance for a home which may be used, selectively, as a vacuum cleaner for removal of loose dirt from a bare floor, such as a kitchen; and as a vacuum cleaner for a carpeted floor; and further having the ability for dispensing a dry chemical carpet cleaner from a storage chamber onto said carpet for removal of spots thereon, with the spent chemical carpet cleaner and loosened soil or dirt being removed from the floor by using the appliance as a carpet vacuum cleaner.